T-Mobile Announces Data Breach 08-20-2018 That Affected 2 Million Users

 

In the world we live in, data moves fast.  Unfortunately, that also applies to data involved in data breaches.  The bad guys with highspeed ‘net connections can just perform mayhem and thievery faster.  It’s sad, but it’s true.  The double edged sword that allows us to get so much done in less time, allows hackers to do the same… and to download the data faster as well.

 

Also, it seems like the faster this type of thing happens, the slower companies are to report it to their customers.  To that end I give a lot of credit to T-Mobile.  The suffered a breach four days ago, and they already have reported it and the info is available to the public.  I’m not going to use this post to blast T-Mobile, in the world that exists today, breaches are going to happen.  I’m saluting them for getting the info to their customers so quickly.

 

Here is what they have to say in their press release… and actually this could have been a lot worse.

 

Dear Customer –

Out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to let you know about an incident that we recently handled that may have impacted some of your personal information.

On August 20, our cyber-security team discovered and shut down an unauthorized access to certain information, including yours, and we promptly reported it to authorities. None of your financial data (including credit card information) or social security numbers were involved, and no passwords were compromised. However, you should know that some of your personal information may have been exposed, which may have included one or more of the following: name, billing zip code, phone number, email address, account number and account type (prepaid or postpaid).

If you have questions about this incident or your account, please contact Customer Care at your convenience. If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can dial 611, use two-way messaging on MyT-Mobile.com, the T-Mobile App, or iMessage through Apple Business Chat. You can also request a call back or schedule a time for your Team of Experts to call you through both the T-Mobile App and MyT-Mobile.com. If you are a T-Mobile For Business or Metro PCS customer, just dial 611 from your mobile phone.

We take the security of your information very seriously and have a number of safeguards in place to protect your personal information from unauthorized access. We truly regret that this incident occurred and are so sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.

What Happened?

On August 20, our cyber-security team discovered and shut down an unauthorized capture of some information, including yours, and promptly reported it to authorities. No financial data (including credit card information) or social security numbers were involved, and no passwords were compromised. However, some personal information may have been exposed, which may have included one or more of the following: name, billing zip code, phone number, email address, account number and account type (prepaid or postpaid).

I got a notification.  What do I need to do?

We wanted you to be aware of this situation. If you have questions, please call Customer Care at your convenience. If you are a Metro PCS customer, just dial 611 from your mobile phone. If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can dial 611, use two-way messaging on MyT-Mobile.com, the T-Mobile App, or iMessage through Apple Business Chat. You can also request a call back or schedule a time for your Team of Experts to call you through both the T-Mobile App and MyT-Mobile.com. As a reminder, it’s always a good idea to regularly change account passwords.

I didn’t get a notification!  Should I be worried?

All affected customers have been, or shortly will be, notified. If you don’t receive a notification than that means your account was not among those impacted by this incident. If you need assistance or have questions about this incident or your account, please contact Customer Care at your convenience. If you are a T-Mobile customer, you can dial 611, use two-way messaging on MyT-Mobile.com, the T-Mobile App, or iMessage through Apple Business Chat. You can also request a call back or schedule a time for your Team of Experts to call you through both the T-Mobile App and MyT-Mobile.com. If you are a T-Mobile For Business or Metro PCS customer, just dial 611 from your mobile phone.

What is T-Mobile doing to prevent this from happening again?

We have a number of safeguards in place to protect your personal information from unauthorized access, use, or disclosure. For more information on how we protect your information, please check out our privacy policy. We also provide security tips for you at: https://www.t-mobile.com/responsibility/privacy.